Apple Pie
by Tadpole24
Summary: "You almost kissed me on Valentine's Day." BB. Based on spoilers for upcoming episodes.


**Hey All,**

**So...I suppose it struck me that Booth was very open about his and Hannah's relationship (figs), where he wants to keep things that happen between himself and Brennan theirs. And that's how the story blossomed; the rest is from the spoilers circulating at present :)**

**If you're unspoiled in any way, then don't come around these parts, they be treacherous ;) If you've already stepped off the bandwagon and are floating around in euphoric state of new spoiler bliss, jump aboard this ship :)**

**Thanks as always to the lovely eitoph who helped me pull this together...and yes, Angry Birds is strangely addictive...I don't know why...but it gets me every time ;)**

**Disclaimer: Not mine! :(**

..:::..

Apple Pie

..:::..

Booth opens his door that morning to see his smiling partner standing before him with a hot cup of coffee in one hand and a brown paper bag in the other, "It's cold out, I thought you'd like something warm."

He ushers her in, "Thanks, Bones. I just need to brush my teeth and we'll be right to go."

As he walks down the hall towards his bathroom, she takes a look around his apartment. She can't help but think that everything is back to the way it should be. Hannah hadn't brought a lot with her in terms of materialistic things, but she had changed the whole vibe of Booth's apartment with her presence alone. Booth's home had felt foreign to her for a good too many months, which is perhaps why this is one of the first times in a long time that she has picked him up for a case.

The body had come in this morning, frozen solid. The team were already working on the best method of defrosting and Brennan had decided that she and Booth could visit the scene to get a better idea of what may have happened. She looked out the window and hoped the snow would hold off for just a little longer.

"Ready to go?"

She smiles as Booth emerges in his full suit, complete with Cocky belt buckle, "Let's jump to it."

He laughs as she gives him the brown paper bag, "It's 'hop to it', Bones. Getting closer. But never mind that," he says as he opens up the bag, "Bones, you brought me pie!"

"It's hot apple, I thought it would keep you warm," she says as they step in the elevator, pressing the ground button. "A low pressure system and a high pressure system are supposed to be meeting today."

With a mouthful, he mumbles, "So, a blizzard. And thanks, Bones," before the elevator lurches and stalls.

Within seconds the emergency generator kicks in, whirs, stutters and fails, leaving the partners in darkness.

"Whoa!" It's a general exclamation from both of them, but before either one of them has a chance to say anything else, Brennan is reaching for her ringing cell phone.

"Brennan."

Booth listens to the garbled voice of someone on the other end before his partner manages to put the phone on speaker, "...the power is completely out. The weather has knocked out the generator too. I'd stay away from the lab if I were you; it seems the disease the body is infected with is quite contagious. We went into lock down before the power cut out."

Cam draws breath and gives Brennan the chance to speak, "Are there any available resources to determine whether the disease is known?"

"The hospital's phones are out at the moment, and we're all locked in, but you could go over there and find out what you can?"

"Unfortunately I find myself suspended in an elevator at the present moment."

It becomes clear at that moment that they are also on speaker phone when an exclamation from Angela comes across the line, "Ohh! Is Agent Studly there with you?"

"Yes Angela, I am here." Booth says, shaking his head at the nickname for him.

Something that sounds like, "I wish I had thought of that," is heard before Brennan ends the call, "I'll be on my cell if you need me. Perform any tests that you can to provide information on the disease as safely as you can."

And then there is just the two of them...

Alone...

In a confined space.

"I guess we just have to wait until the power comes back on."

"Your building doesn't have a maintenance professional?"

Booth chuckles in a way which tells Brennan all she needs to know, "Yeah, we have one. He's on vacation in Florida."

"And he didn't leave a number for another? In my building there's always a back up."

"In case you've forgotten, you earn quite a bit more than me; your apartment building would be an indication of that."

There is an awkward pause, then, "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable."

Booth smiles and nudges Brennan in a playful way before sliding to the ground for a seat, "Nah, it's OK. I'm sorry for living in this building."

She follows suit and slides down the wall to the floor, "Rationally speaking, you could have never of known that this was going to happen, so there is no need for your apology."

He takes a bite of his still delicious pie and chuckles, "Thanks, Bones."

..:::..

About an hour later finds Booth trying to explain to Brennan why the 'Angry Birds' app on his iPhone is so addictive. She's about to throw his phone across the elevator when her cell begins to ring.

"Brennan."

This time she keeps the phone to her ear as Cam rattles off what they've been doing and what they're about to do. She asks if there's been any movement of the elevator, to which Brennan replies, "Not yet," and the conversation is over.

"How are they doing without all their gadgets?" Booth asks.

Brennan slides her phone back into her pocket, taking note that her battery is at only 15 percent full, "They're about to try and obtain an X-ray image without an X-ray machine."

Booth's eyebrows shoot up, "Wow. You have got some smart people working for you there, Bones."

"I know."

"So no sign of power anywhere then?"

"It's a blizzard, Booth. I assume it would take more than one hour to fly over."

He holds up him arms in surrender, "I know, I know. Just trying to keep the conversation flowing."

Ironically that sentence kills the conversation and the partners are once again surrounded by silence and the quiet beep of Brennan's cell telling her she needs to charge her phone or imminently lose power.

"Why don't we ever talk about it?"

Booth looks up from his iPhone, which he has just opened to a torch app, "About what?"

She shrugs, "That night we solved the Eames case. That night in front of the Hoover. That night you fired me. Any of it."

He turns to her, giving her his full attention and sees for the first time that her head is bowed as she speaks, as though she's scared to bring any of this up again, "I don't know." And he honestly doesn't.

"You almost kissed me on Valentine's Day."

He smiles at the memory. After both deciding that the day was completely pathetic and horrible, they had taken turns at shooting out paper hearts at the shooting range. It was oddly cathartic and completely amazing to be in the company of his partner without tension.

She's right though.

"I wanted to, yes."

She raises her head, "Why didn't you?"

He takes a deep breath and contemplates lying to her, but only for a second. He knows that anything he says could push her over the edge, but the truth has more of a chance to grip her and hold on, "Bones," he lets the breath out in a rush of air then faces her, "We're out of shots." He worries for a moment that she will take this all the wrong way, but as he stares at her he knows what he's always known; she will wait for all the information before she makes a judgement. For this he is grateful, "We've been hit and miss a few too many times. I love you an enormous amount, in a partner way, in a friend way and in a I can't sleep 'cause I'm up all night thinking about you way. I want to be clear." Another deep breath and he remembers they're in a broken down elevator...she won't run no matter what, "I didn't kiss you on Valentine's Day, one, because if I had it would have defeated the whole purpose of hating the day," they both smile, "And two, because," he makes sure his eyes are met by hers, "Because if I kiss you I need to be sure that you're not going to run, I need to be sure that you will be the last woman I kiss." He adds every ounce of hope and promise to his voice and finishes, "You're it for me, Bones."

She's unsure when it happened, but at some point during Booth's admission, her phone had died, leaving the elevator completely silent as she stares at Booth. Although it's a completely ill conceived notion, she swears that she can hear her heart beating in her ears.

As if on cue, Booth's phone, and their lighting, dies and the partners are left with one less sense to guide them.

A second and a half later, Booth realises he will only need one sense anyway.

Touch.

The touch of her lips on his, in a kiss so passionate and full that he knows he will never, ever want another woman's lips on his in his lifetime. The touch of her hands pulling the back of his neck making sure he knows how much she wants to hang on and never let go. The touch of their foreheads bumping together as they pull apart. The touch of her breath mingling with his in the heat between them.

..:::..

They never admit it when they get out. Life goes on as normal and everyone accepts that they're a couple now. It was always only a matter of time. Angela has a hunch, everybody does. No one ever questions when the big moment was that the partners finally eradicated that line. No one ever asks why they share a smile when the apple pie is served.

And they never tell.

What happens between them is theirs and theirs alone.

..:::..

**Let me know how you went :)**


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